Standard used by eduroam for WiFi access now compulsory for government bodies, WPA2 Enterprise on 'apply or explain' lis

3 February 2016 - Wladimir Mufty

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The Dutch National Consultation on Digital Government decided on 2 February to put WPA2 Enterprise (the standard used by eduroam for secure access to WiFi networks) on the 'apply or explain' list. This obliges Dutch government bodies and semi-public institutions to support this standard for their WiFi networks.

eduroam and WPA2 Enterprise

In May 2015, SURFnet and the stichting govroam jointly nominated the WPA2 Enterprise standard for inclusion on the 'apply or explain' list. The standard has now been added to the list following a positive recommendation from the Standardisation Forum. WPA2 Enterprise allows organisations to provide employees and external users with secure and easy access to WiFi networks. Eduroam is also based on this standard.

Compulsory use by government bodies

Only WPA2 Enterprise offers a sufficiently high level of security for access to government WiFi networks. Inclusion on the 'apply or explain' list obligates dutch government and semi-public organisations to support the standard. Furthermore, when purchasing new WiFi products and services, they must require suppliers to have WPA2 Enterprise integrated in their products and services. To do that, dutch government organisations can use govroam, the international service for sharing access to government WiFi networks that is based on eduroam.

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